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Monday, December 21, 2015

Beeswax Candles

A year or so ago, a friend at work gave me a giant block of beeswax for my soap making. I haven't used beeswax in soap before and still haven't, although I am going to try it soon. Regardless, the amount of beeswax he gave me was WAY more than I'd use in soap so I figured I'd make candles with it. How hard could that be, really? You just melt the wax put a wick in and let it dry....

Well, it was a MESS, and a slight disaster. The candles never really burned well; they'd create this pit as they burned then burn themselves out. All in all, it was a failure.

Not to be deterred I decided to give it another go and remelt the wax. This time I did a little research and discovered I used too flimsy of a wick. Beeswax is slow burning and therefore you need a sturdier wick.

I purchased these CandleScience 50 Piece Natural Candle Wick, Medium
with a wick clip on the bottom from Amazon. I set my containers on a paper towel, cut a hole in a piece of masking tape that I taped to the top, and slipped the wick though the tape. This secured the wick as I poured the wax into the container.

I also learned, as I was researching my previous failure, that beeswax burns really hot and can sometimes crack the container it's in. Blending the wax with a 'cooler' oil helps keep the temperature down. Because of this I added one cup of coconut oil to a pound of wax as it was melting.

*Helpful Hint* Do not melt the wax in any container you plan to keep. You will NOT be able to clean the container. I find it's easier to use an old coffee can, or in this case metal cookie can, as a double boiler,

Before I poured the wax into the containers, I added a little grapefruit fragrance oil for a nice natural scent that would complement the scent of the beeswax.

With just these couple of changes, I'm happy to report, my candles now burn steadily, without pits, and smell fresh, not overpowering.